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No Grammys For Frank Ocean This Year
As reported by Billboard, Frank Ocean will not be winning any Grammy Awards this year. Despite being released prior to September 30, 2016, the 2017 Grammy eligibility cutoff date, neither Blonde nor the visual album version, Endless, were even submitted for consideration. Whether this was an intentional decision or an oversight is still unclear. One possibility […]
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Cox v. NASCAR: Frivolous Action, or Fight Against Racial Discrimination?
Hailing from the Great Peach State, Terrance Cox III filed suit against NASCAR, its parent company and eighteen of its race teams. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York on September 16, 2016, alleges that Mr. Cox’s, “attempts to make NASCAR more racially diverse were rebuffed by the sanctioning body.” According to […]
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New Jersey Argues State Sovereignty for Sports Gambling
Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson has brought New Jersey’s fight to legalize in-state sports gambling to the U.S. Supreme Court. According to the Wall Street Journal, Governor Chris Christie first attempted to legalize sports betting in New Jersey in 2012, but when the courts struck down that law, he signed a new 2014 law […]
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Fashion Police Strike Again!
Ralph Lauren, Payless Shoes, and the Kardashians’ Dash boutique have been sued for allegedly discriminating against visually impaired customers. According to The Fashion Law, plaintiff Andres Gomez filed separate lawsuits against each company last week claiming that, because the defendants’ websites are not equipped with any screen reader software, they have effectively “denied visually impaired […]
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1st & Goal for the College Athletes’ Rights
When the United States Supreme Court denies certiorari (cert.) to a case ruling that a large nonprofit organization is subject to federal antitrust laws, most in the sports world don’t pay close attention. On October 3rd, 2016, however, the U.S. Supreme Court grabbed the attention of the sports world by denying cert. in O’bannon v. […]
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Judge Rules For Disney In Immigration Related Suit
A lawsuit brought by American technology workers against Walt Disney Company and two outsourcing companies, Cognizant Technology Solutions and HCL America, suffered a setback this week when a federal judge dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims. The plaintiffs, who worked at Disney, were laid off and forced to train foreign replacements, claim that Disney conspired with the […]
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Ed Sheeran’s “Photograph” Not Worth Ten Thousand Words?
Irish superstar Ed Sheeran and his song writing team were recently hit with a $20 million copyright infringement lawsuit alleging that Sheeran’s hit song “Photograph” is a “note-for-note copying” of Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard’s 2009 song “Amazing.” According to the Hollywood Reporter, instead of disputing the technical musical issues of whether there was infringement, […]
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“Smart Chase” Creates Legal Controversy Between Hollywood And China
Das Films, a U.S.-based production company, has sued Bliss Media, a Chinese company, for breach of contract in relation to Orlando Bloom’s new film, Smart Chase: Fire & Earth. According to the complaint, Das and Bliss signed a producer agreement in 2015 for the film, with Das Films as the producer and Bliss as the […]
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When Streaming Music Services Collide
According to the BBC, Spotify, the titan of the music-streaming world, is currently in advanced negotiations to purchase Soundcloud, the global online audio distribution platform. The potential merger comes at a time when competition in the music streaming world is at an all time high – although Spotify currently boasts 40 million paid subscribers, Apple […]
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A Possible Legal Trap for “Trap Queen”
According to MTV News, if it were up to Danish musician Lazar Lakic, we would all be living in a Trap Queen-less world. Lakic is suing rapper Fetty Wap and producer Tony Fadd over their quadruple platinum and Grammy nominated hit song “Trap Queen” on grounds that he is the true owner of the track’s […]
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N.C.A.A. Takes Stand Against North Carolina’s Anti-Gay Rights Law
The N.C.A.A. announced on September 12 that it is relocating all championship tournament games that were originally scheduled to take place in North Carolina over the 2016-2017 academic year. This news comes in reaction to a new North Carolina law, commonly referred to as House Bill 2, which nullified local government ordinances extending anti-discrimination […]
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Grand Theft Auto: Not Just Taking Cars
Zoom, Swerve, Crash! These are effectively the three steps of actress Lindsay Lohan’s and former Mob Wives star Karen Gravno lawsuits against the widely popular action-adventure video game series Grand Theft Auto. Zoom – Lohan filed suit under New York’s right of publicity statute, arguing that Grand Theft Auto V’s character “Lacey Jonas,” who is […]